


Too Much Soul, or None at All

by Livvykitty (orphan_account)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Lots of Fluff and Romance, M/M, Steampunk, also soulless people are a thing, but also with vampires and ghosts and werewolves, i think this is how you use tags???, really it's just these two falling in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-29
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-06 17:39:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4230843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Livvykitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Now, many people would recall the night of meeting the love of their lives with fondness, perhaps telling stories about how the moment their eyes met they knew that they would be in love for the rest their days. Perhaps they would talk about lavish balls with a private dance away from the crowd, or perhaps of a ride through the air. If it were an especially naughty story, they would speak of fevered kisses, roving hands, hiding away from the families that hated each other, or in the occasional case, of how a human fell in love with a vampire or werewolf. Scandalous though their love may seem, one between a man with a little too much soul and one with none at all, there was no romantic first meeting between them. </p><p>In fact, the first meeting involved an incident with a hedgehog, a silver tipped cane, a soulless boy, a particular plateful of apple tart, and what was sure to be one very confused and put off Dave."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which Canes Prove most Painful

Dave could remember, as clear as fucking day, the night that he and Karkat met.

Now, many people would recall the night of meeting the love of their lives with fondness, perhaps telling stories about how the moment their eyes met they knew that they would be in love for the rest their days. Perhaps they would talk about lavish balls with a private dance away from the crowd, or perhaps of a ride through the air. If it were an especially naughty story, they would speak of fevered kisses, roving hands, hiding away from the families that hated each other, or in the occasional case, of how a human fell in love with a vampire or werewolf. Scandalous though their love may seem, one between a man with a little too much soul and one with none at all, there was no romantic first meeting between them.

In fact, the first meeting involved an incident with a hedgehog, a particular plateful of apple tart, and what was sure to be one very confused and put off werewolf.

Of course, when Dave had been turned around fifty, maybe sixty years ago, they knew he was an Alpha. Hell, he already knew he was an Alpha. He had barely even made a sound when the former Alpha of the pack sank his teeth into his neck and tore flesh. He had been prepared for it; when you were a claviger working with werewolves in the hopes of becoming one yourself, you learned all the nasty little things that went along with it. Nothing in life came for free; as a werewolf you were stronger and able to heal faster and were basically immortal, but at the same time you had to be chained up during the full moon so that you didn’t go batshit on any humans that you knew. Dave already remembered, quite uneasily at that, one particular instance of that. Thank God Karkat had been there.

But he was getting off topic, letting his mind drift away. Soon enough he would be rambling faster than an outlaw trying to smooth talk his way out of a bad situation, making himself seem like just the dandiest fucking fellow so that he wouldn’t be chained up and thrown to the wolves during moon madness. Now was not the time to be letting his head stay in the clouds.

Dave Strider, Alpha of the Strider pack, knew that he was hot shit. Unfortunately, all of high society knew that too, meaning that Rose was always stuffing him in itchy cravats and belts and sending him off to balls. He didn’t mind the suits; the suits made him look fucking fantastic, and everyone knew it, even those goddamn vamps. The extra little accessories were what annoyed him to no end, because of the off chance that a fight broke out or he had to do some impromptu sparring. They caught in fucking everything, and they always tore away whenever he changed into his wolf form. It was needless and stupid, but his Beta insisted. Not only did she insist, Rose always found some way to verbally outwit him and make him wear the damnable things.

Okay, he’s getting off topic. Fashion aside, it was at one of these balls when he met Karkat Vantas, in the middle of the outside garden enjoying a plate of apple tart. Dave had thought that the staff there were fucking cheapskates when it came to food, so to see that was a relief, because he was just about fucking starving and it really wasn’t all that desirable to have raw meat and blood at a human hosted party. As it turned out though, Dave fucking loved apples, especially when they were made into desserts, and he took that moment to sit by the seemingly human man to ask where he’d gotten it.

Now at this point in the story one of them would have noticed the other’s looks, or perhaps noticed a small quirk in their behavior, but this was, as mentioned before, not the typical romantic first meeting. Dave had to pause before even speaking to the man, because he noticed his scent.

Now it should be noted that while werewolves and vampires had been civilized into society, it was only just, and the bottom line is humans still oftentimes smelled like food. That wasn’t what this mystery man in the garden smelled liked. There was a whiff of something spicy and sweet, and something completely missing. It was so startling to Dave that he had to actually stop and stare, trying to figure out what the fuck could cause one human to smell different from the rest.

Then that human spoke, revealing that Dave had been staring a him for way too damn long. “Hey, shit for brains, any reason why you happen to be looking at me like I’m some piece of meat?”

“Hm?” Okay, fuck, he had to try and bounce back from this, make it seem like he hadn’t just been staring like a freak for no reason without ever mentioning the other’s scent, even though it was _driving him up the fucking wall trying to figure out what it was_ , “What, no man, I’m not looking at you like that. I’m eyeing that fine ass dessert. I really have a hankering for some apple tart, you know, since they don’t got any beef here.” The guy looked at him for a moment before seeming to accept that.

“Well you’re shit out of luck. I had to order this from the stupidest goddamn staff in existence, and they only made five tarts. This is the fifth.” Dave wondered if that’s what he had smelled, all the desserts that the guy seemingly had consumed. The guy must have had the best metabolism a human could have, to be eating all of that and still maintaining the seemingly solid figure. That also presented the worst problem imaginable; he was going to have to go without food for the night.

There was no way in hell that he was letting that happen. He decided then and there to grab a bite of that tart, just to hold him over. After all, who would believe a human who said that the Alpha of one of the biggest packs in the city, the king Strider, ate some of their apple tart in the garden where no one else was at that moment? Maybe the gossip columns, but Dave really doubted it. Dave reached over and tried to snag a piece, lifting slightly off of his seat. In that moment, two things happened.

A hedgehog crawled into his seat, and a silver tipped cane collided with his head.

He yelped, sitting back because what kind of fucking lunatic brought a silver tipped wooden cane with him when he was so obviously able bodied? Apparently an asshole who seemed to always want to be prepared for a supernatural attack. He sat back down in his seat, and that’s when Dave Strider, Alpha werewolf, sat on the poor spiny creature. Said werewolf gave another yip before falling to the ground, right on his ass. It was an unflattering position, and he just about growled at the human who was right then yelling at him. “Okay, what the fuck?! We only just met and you’re stealing my food? What are you, some loner from the countryside? I would say rove, but hey, looks like you’d fucking hate that, huh?” Now Dave saw that the man was tapping his cane on the ground, glaring down at him.

“Well I’m hungry! Can you really blame me?” He got up, trying to loom over the other, a scowl playing at his lips. It was instinctive to show his canines, and that’s what he did. It was an intimidation tactic, one that he hadn’t been able to shed ever since turning. Then the human in front of him grabbed his wrist and he wasn’t doing much of anything. Though he was much taller than the other, he was still not looming so threateningly. That, and he had no canines. All that was there were blunt human teeth.

Human. That wasn’t something he had been in over half a century, and yet that’s what he was now.

That in itself was enough to shock Dave into silence, and that allowed the human to ramble on, uninterrupted.

"What the actual FUCK is wrong with you?! You don't just come up to some complete stranger, stare at them for no reason, and then expect to get away with trying to steal their food! That's the rudest fucking thing, and you're lucky that you're fucking doing this to me and not some stupid flighty broad inside. This would make it to the papers for sure, and I have a feeling that you really don’t want me to do anything for that **pride** of yours.”

 Soon enough, Dave found his voice and took several steps back, tearing his wrist away. Immediately he felt more like himself. He practically snarled then, and god there was something so fucking infuriating about this guy. He had that weird fucking scent around him, one that already was distracting him and making him lose control on what he had once called word vomit, and he was already unsettled as is by being so suddenly changed. While Dave really couldn’t place the spicy-sweet smell, he at least knew what was missing. He just wasn’t about to let that cane come anywhere near him again.

 “Hey man, I just wanted food! There’s no need to start all that shit. What are you trying to do, start a war between races? We really don’t need curse-breakers on our asses in addition to vamps. Those fucking bloodsuckers hate us enough already, and soon enough we’ll be having the tanks o-“

  ** _WHACK_ **

**** Again with that fucking cane.

 Before Dave could continue his previous agitated rambling, the human had taken up his plate of tart, tucked his cane under his arm, and started walking away without so much as another word. The werewolf was left baffled, and more than a little put off. He was honestly so offended from even meeting the guy that he left early, immediately going to find Rose and demand to get the list of names of all the soulless in the city. It took an hour of pacing around his own room, trying to forget the feel of the other's hand on his wrist and trying to nurse the ache in his head that had bloomed after being bludgeoned so many times with silver, but soon he had the disappointingly short list. There were only two names, and they seemed to be related; Karkat and Kankri Vantas. Dave knew of Kankri; the asshole was reviled throughout the supernatural set for his backhanded lectures on them, as if he knew of the struggles of the Dark Ages, when werewolves and vampires alike were often hunted down and killed with silver and wood. Now Dave understood why he always seemed to be so condescending.

While it made sense that Kankri would be a soulless bastard, it was a little bit baffling to see that ball of anger is the same. Then again, for all Dave knew, he could be just as condescending as Kankri. Thankfully, he would likely never have to see the guy again. Yeah. At least Dave could take solace in that little fact, even though he had to admit that it was a little fun to see the guy lose his shit and it would be a little disappointing to never see him again. Despite the little hiccups of that first meeting, and that stupid fucking cane, it was fun.

Then as if to fuck with him, life threw him into more chance meetings with Karkat Vantas.


	2. In Which Our Hero Gets his Nose into Things he Shouldn't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt it necessary to write a note here to tag a few potential triggers; TW: Death and a bit of blood, though not too much.

Karkat wasn't too proud of that first meeting. If he had known that it would have been his romantic first encounter, he might have acted a bit differently.

After all, he had been imagining a first meeting with a love, and though he knew that he wasn't going to immediately fall for them, he had at least expected to like them upon the first meeting. That wasn't the case at all. In fact, Karkat left that first meeting with Dave Strider offended, annoyed, and over all wanting to bludgeon him a couple of more times over the head with his trusty cane. The preternatural (or that's what he called himself, because "soulless" tended to make the public balk, and caused vampires to cry 'soulsucker' or werewolves to yell 'curse-breaker') figured that if he ever saw the asshole again, he would hit him a couple of more times, just to make sure he was beaten into line. He might have been the head of the premiere werewolf pack, but that made him all the more likely to need to be reminded that he wasn't fucking invincible.

 The night after that first meeting, he had done his research on the Alpha. Dave Strider had apparently come into power some twenty years ago, beating the former Alpha in a fight. His father's library described the specifics of such a grab for power amongst werewolves. Usually the fights took place when both were in their lupine forms, and the goal was to grip the other's neck in the jaws. The old Alpha was exiled after that as a loner, so obviously the only outcome of that battle was that the werewolf had won. That werewolf had won and come into power of a large pack.

 But really, now wasn't the time to think about a stupid werewolf from a few days ago. Right then, Karkat had some important business that couldn't wait. He was immediately reminded of this fact as the dismembered fingers of the poltergeist he was after brushed past him, trailing up his neck and tugging weakly on his hair. He shivered at the touch as those ghostly fingers wandered about, aimlessly floating amongst the various items that were being thrown and moved throughout the room. Really, there was nothing fucking sadder than seeing a ghost start to fall apart at the seams and lose all sense of identity. Hell, it was barely a ghost anymore. There were just body parts floating everywhere, glowing a pale white and moving away from each other. They were literally tearing apart at the seams, and that was something that Karkat really couldn't bear to see. They were suffering silently, a broken soul being tethered to the earth by the excess that could have let them survive the change into a vampire or werewolf had they joined a pack or hive as a helper of the creatures.

Really, that wasn't his place to think of at that moment. Aradia, a ghost stationed not too far, had told him where to find the body. Once he got into physical contact with it, the tether would be broken and that shattered human soul could go to wherever the hell souls went after death. Hell, Karkat wouldn't know. It's not as if he had a soul to go to some paradise or hell or whatever. Death was it, the last thing he would ever know. Oh well. You can't miss what you never had. He stepped around some rubble and looked around the place. That's when the most godawful fucking smell hit his nose. He had to raise a gloved hand to his nose to avoid breathing too much in and wreaking havoc on his senses, because jesus christ, decaying corpse was not a pleasant fucking scent. He breathed out a bit and looked around, watching some of those severed body parts gather around one set spot in the rubble.

Then there was the shittastic sound of screaming, and he could hear a woman's voice coming from a pair of lips that were floating near his goddamn ear. So much for not scrambling his senses. He huffed out a breath and went towards a particularly bloodstained pile of rubble, bending down and ignoring the one eyeball that was vacantly staring at him. Karkat started to work, clearing away the rubble and trying to ignore that eye, even though he couldn't help but notice that it might have been blue at one point, and that's when he found it. This woman was looking horribly decayed, with most of the flesh rotted off of her so that bone showed, along with teeth and remains of one definitely blue eye. Now came the part that Karkat hated the most.

For his 'power', so to speak, to work, he had to actually be in physical contact with that supernatural being's body. Scholars were still baffled by how it worked, exactly, how someone with no soul could cancel out the excess of another and temporarily turn them human so long as contact remained, but it still worked to get the job done. It had kept him from being fed on by any rude vampires (the fangs were always missing when they tried) and to fend off any roughhousing werewolves (though his cane certainly helped). Karkat was sure as hell not complaining about this. Well, he sort of was now, because for that shit to work he had to actually hold physical contact with a dead body to sever the connection, but he would manage. Really, the only thing was, who the fuck let a ghost go undocumented? Who not only left them undocumented, but allowed their body to remain buried in these fucking horrible conditions? No wonder this poltergeist had been so spectacularly pissed at any humans that came within twenty feet of this place; they just wanted to be freed.

And now, Karkat would be acting as her exorcist and free her. There was no ceremony, no holy water or bible reading. That was all fucking bullshit, and besides, what god was there for the soulless? He didn't need all that frivolous bullshit. All he needed was his gloved hand. He reached down and touched the bony cheek, watching the pale limbs and parts begin to fade away. It was all a rather quick process, and soon enough, the screaming had subsided. He let out a breath, because though now his ears were ringing, they weren't quite hurting like before. He then accidentally breathed in through his nose and he jumped back, tearing the gloves off of his hands and getting away because that was still a dead body that he'd touched and now his nostrils burned like a bitch.

That's about when Karkat heard footsteps, and fuck, this wasn't looking good already. He technically wasn't allowed to exorcise anything until a full assessment and evaluation had been done, and the punishment was a few days jail time. He preferred not to go there when he had a fucking reputation to maintain, one of keeping the lowest fucking profile ever while letting his idiot brother take the spotlight instead.

He thankfully knew one of the faces that entered the room. Unfortunately, he also recognized the other that had come as well.

"Strider, what the actual fuck are you doing here?" He nearly snarled, despite the little wince that Dave was giving. Of course he would be. The room fucking reeked of rot and decay, and werewolves already had better noses than the rest, even while in human form. To be quite honest though, Karkat didn't feel too sympathetic. He was just surprised that Terezi was there, because the human likely knew of the danger. Actually no, he wasn't surprised at all. Of fucking course Terezi would just throw herself into the fray like that; as an officer, it was her job to do it, and she did it well. Fortunately, that meant that hopefully she wouldn't cart him off to jail first thing.

Then that Strider fucker opened his mouth, and Karkat's grip on his cane tightened, the tip raising off of the ground. Of course he was prepared to strike if necessary. "Okay, Karkat Vantas, what the fuck are _you_ doing here in the lair of a poltergeist, huh? A deadly fucking one at that."

"Please, deadly to you. It could barely touch me." Karkat scoffed, and Terezi looked between the two of them, more amused than anything.

"Alright, I'll bite- you two have met before?"

"Yes, we fucking have, and I'm not afraid to take a few more swings at this piece of shit with this." Karkat held up his cane in a threatening manner, to which Dave snickered. It might have looked a bit comical, an Italian man about an inch or two under the average height waving around a wooden cane in a dark skinned fist, but all Karkat saw was a werewolf that needed a good clobbering over the fucking **head**.

Terezi gave a cackle and grinned at Karkat, just waving her hand in dismissal. "I'm guessing that you exorcised the guy already. Sweet, that makes my job way fucking easier. You can go." She turned back to Dave but for some reason, the werewolf was approaching him, looking down at him and smirking the most infuriating smirk.

"So Karkat, I'm surprised to see you here. I would have thought your brother would be the one to come and free lost souls or whatever the fuck, with all the supernatural support bullshit he spouts on a regular basis." What the fuck was this asshole trying to pull, asking about his brother? Was he trying to get close to the guy or something? If that were the case, then this Dave guy had a few mental problems that promptly needed to be dealt with before he got to be within a twenty mile radius of Karkat ever again, that was for certain.

Karkat scoffed again, and Terezi looked on, snickering to herself as he said, "Oh please, that asshole doesn't like getting his hands dirty. He freaks the fuck out at the sight of blood, so what the fuck would possess you to think that he would willingly come out and touch a dead body to get the job done? Nope, that's me. I play exorcist in this city, so you'd better calm the fuck down about my dumbfuck brother and get out of my face."

But this guy apparently didn't understand what that meant, because he just kept on rambling. "Man, I can definitely understand that, like my Beta likes to really push all the dirty work off onto me somehow, and she always finds this really weird way to mentally trick me into it too so sometimes I wonder just what the fuck is going on there but in the end, I guess that doesn't really matter and she can go taunt that hive queen as much as she wants, like seriously, if vamps and us weren't so dead set against each other I'd think that they were both fucking flirting with each other-"

Karkat, tired of hearing the astute flow of word vomit that dribbled past the werewolf's lips, picked up his cane and hit the werewolf right on the head with the silver tip.

Dave gave a yelp and rubbed his head, glaring down at Karkat as Terezi practically roared with laughter in the background. The Italian man, to his credit, didn't hit as hard as the first time he'd smacked Dave around, and was already turning to leave with a loud, "Fuck OFF, Strider!" Karkat left that meeting almost as offended as the night of the party, snarling under his breath.

Dave was left rubbing at his head, staring after the soulless one with an eyebrow raised. He was definitely a feisty one, that was for sure, and holy shit he may have actually been sort of into that. Maybe the werewolf wouldn't mind seeing the guy again, maybe on a day when his head wasn't hurting like a bitch.

Karkat can only curse whatever Gods are above when the next five or six times he goes out on a case, Terezi kept letting Dave fucking Strider tag along.


	3. In Which our Hero is Unable to Resist a Full Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW again: Minor body horror towards the end, mostly vague descriptions of changing between wolf and human form.

Dave would have thought that these meetings were coincidences, if not for the fact that in the coming months Dave had been with Terezi Karkat seemed to be at the center of fucking everything. A spat between werewolves? Karkat was standing nearby, holding his cane out and knocking the creatures out of his way. Vampire feeding too much? There Karkat was again, holding the miscreant by the ear as he tried to calm the shivers of the poor victim. Ghosts going missing miles away? Of course, the only one who could exorcise them (that wanted to, anyway) was there, tapping his cane on the ground and looking at them impatiently, as if having waited for a long while.

At the very least, after a month Karkat had finally stopped hitting him over the head with the cane that Dave had come to very much loathe. And that was saying something, because with the nature of his species as a whole, he loathed a lot of fucking things, most of which were rooted firmly in the vampiric. It was only natural; both werewolves and vampires were predators, so naturally they'd also be territorial and rivals in most things.

Vampires, the bloodsucking bastards, he could deal with. He could pretend to be amiable while also giving subtle threat to them.

Nothing, however, could prepare him for Kankri Vantas.

This meeting took place about three months after the initial first encounters (which, upon remembering them, caused quite the headache to stir) and about two months after Dave had started to notice more and more about the Italian man. Really, he had picked up mostly on Karkat's little quirks; a tendency to gesture with his hands and throw his arms every which way, the way his fist clamped down around the wooden handle of his weapon of choice when particularly angry, and the little way his entire face tinged with red as something Dave said really irritated him and he was holding back the floodgates on a particularly long rant. There had been a call about a loner that he'd stationed in the contryside coming to the city, and that just wasn't a good thing right then.

It was around the full moon, and that was a terrible fucking time for werewolves to be moving. The people were getting tense when he entered the room, and vampires were already loudly planning their full moon parties (petty ass bloodsuckers, that's what they were). Really, he was already starting to get antsy. There was still a day before he was chained up, but whenever he went back in the castle he was reminded of what was to come by a haggard Rose and the howls of the pups of the pack down below, who had already lost it and changed. To say that Dave Strider was high strung was a fucking understatement.

He really fucking hated the moon, but at the very least, he was old enough to hold out until about the evening before the full moon was to rise. He would have to deal with this loner though, who for some reason left where he was supposed to be preparing for that month. To be honest, Dave was half expecting for Karkat to be there as well- he always seemed to find himself in one werewolf pack or vampire hive's business or another, and he was constantly working with the police on problems with the supernatural. Dave had been looking forward to seeing if he could garner some amusement in seeing if he could make Karkat angry enough to wave that dumb cane of his around (though now he didn't have to worry too much about being beaten with it), a little bit of seeing something fun before he would have to go into the stone dungeons underneath the pack castle to wait out the inevitable night in wolf form. Instead, when he arrived, he didn't see Karkat. He saw his brother instead.

Now it should be noted that while he'd seen this guy in passing and exchanged pleasantries as societal norms dictated, he never had to directly face the soulless in any situation outside of a silly ball or gathering. That meant that he was going to have to sit through this guy's long winded rants. Absolutely lovely. Every single little stereotype about soulless people seemed to describe him; unimaginative, self-righteous, and damn near sociopathic with remarks that were supposed to show how much he "cared" for the supernatural that degraded them instead. The man was intelligent, but he used it in all the wrong ways, and trying to appeal to so many people in the name of politics stretched him out thin. If Rose were to be believed (and she seemed to have sources fucking everywhere, about any and everything, even the things vampiric, so of course she was), he held little socials with animaphobics, or that was the polite term for those people who saw the supernatural set as a threat, no matter how low their numbers. Frankly, these socials sounded like a gathering of flighty broads discussing the latest fashions, if the newest trend was trying to preach how the supernatural were uncouth and uncivilized, even after a century.

Dave, who was watching the time nervously because come sunset he would have to hurry back, didn't give Kankri a chance to get the first word in, instead biting out, "Why the hell is this one here? The full moon is tonight and you're trying to talk to a loner from the countryside?

Kankri, to his credit, didn't look quite so angry as Dave thought he would, but he did still look condescendingly upon the werewolf alpha, a tone of contempt leaking through. "Do you always cut in without introducing yourself? You should consider being calm and at least a bit civil, or at least have the brains to tag your triggers, or else you might offend someone." What the fuck did tag even mean? Dave didn't know, and frankly he didn't want to know. "Now my dear lycantrope, do you mind telling me why exactly you come here when myself and this gentleman here were having a chat?"

"Look, now isn't the fucking time for a rendezvous with an old acquaintance who probably doesn't even want your company." Dave was not having this shit today, not with dusk beginning to approach and all his nerves buzzing with agitation. He should have already been locked down about three hours ago; at least then he would have been able to chat with Rose through the walls of steel before her jaw started to set in a very inhuman way that would cease any form of human speech. "This one has to go back home, or else you will have allowed a potentially dangerous wolf with moon madness rampage around the city." There was still time to get this loner back to his countryside home, where surely his claviger was waiting.

"I take offense to that!" It seemed that Dave had been too quick to judge, because now the soulless bastard was becoming irritated. How could one soulless be such an unbearable dick, while the other ended up being at least a little cute with his brand of irritation? "I'll have you know that I have a _right_ as well as _any other_ to speak to whomever I choose and-"

"For the love of **God** man, if this one runs off and kills, that will be blood on **your** hands."

That shut the soulless up rather quickly, and the dark skin paled, leaving it a lighter tan as eyes widened. This was when Kankri floundered, trying to give some explanation, all while sputtering about all the triggers that Dave hadn't tagged. Dave was, by now, tired of his shit, and not wanting to stick around and listen to one of his many infamous rants lest both he and the loner end up changing on the spot as time passed, he grabbed the loner by the arm. The other werewolf didn't resist, and looking at the time he cursed. There wasn't enough time to get this one back to his country home, and he was beginning to hunch over, spine curling at an inhuman angle. The only thing that he could do was bring him to his pack's dungeons and get him chained up.

When he got there, however, there seemed to be a little problem regarding space. There was only one space for the Alpha as a rule, with the strongest reinforcements and steel and silver to keep him in while he threw himself against the walls. This werewolf, if he hadn't left his pack to be a loner, would still be regarded as an Alpha. Even if the loner's control was beginning to slip, he would still likely be about as strong as Dave was in the bloodfester throes and with less control, stood the chance of getting out and hurting someone. He had the clavigers take the loner to Dave's normal chambers under there, and with that, Dave held out his hands to be shackled. Of course, the steel chains around his wrists could be easily broken, but they stood as a defense for the clavigers should he go feral in the middle of transport. However, it seemed that Dave had miscalculated, had overlooked one crucial portion of everything. The loner was safe in the steel prison that was normally Dave's, and Dave watched idly off to the side as his beta finally succumbed, growling at the clavigers near and charging at the cage with violet eyes burning savagely.

The full moon rose during the process of his own lock down.

With the mad howls around him and the sound of bodies throwing themselves against their prisons, everything became sharper. He could no longer hold off his own change, and after years of switching between werewolf and human form, it was nearly effortless when he gave in. There was no magic, or puff of smoke whenever a werewolf shifted though. No, in fact, the result was more gruesome.

His eyes narrowed and he could hear yelling around him as he was quickly on the ground, eyes burning as bones reset with horrifying cracks, nose elongating out. They tried to get at him with silver, and he growled at the prey giving a howl of pain as his growing tail was shanked with the metal. It was a bit too late now though, and with that small stretch of time, Dave had been unable to stop his transformation. There wasn't much thought in the action as he threw himself upon the back of a human, biting as the back before springing away. He ran on all fours from that dark shadowy place of metal and chains and to where he could smell the outside world.

No matter how they tried, a human could never catch up to a running wolf, and soon they could do nothing more than try to chase after their pack alpha as he ran through the manor above, throwing himself against the door mindlessly until it broke. He ran, and soon lost the scent of his pursuers. However, he did smell something else in the air.

Something spicy-sweet, with something missing.

So the wolf hunted it down.


	4. In Which Having No Soul Proves Useful

Really, Karkat ended up being a victim of circumstance that night. He was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, coming home from a full moon party filled with vampires who tried to take turns manipulating his mind. It didn't really work out, because apparently vampire mind control only worked well when someone had a soul, but that didn't stop the raging headache or the fact that he'd nearly bludgeoned the fuck out of some of the Serket's guests. At the very least, Kanaya had been kind enough to tell him the way out.

 Unable to find a service carriage to take him back home (despite the fact that he truly was in no hurry, since Kankri would probably just talk his ear off and try to convince him of why he was so fucking problematic for 'sneaking' to a full moon party when he was a grown man and didn't need to be told what to do by his pompous ass), he was going to have to walk. Over all, it wasn't a bad night for a walk- it was maybe a bit chilly, but with all the clothes he normally donned going to such social functions, it barely really phased him. It was much quieter than normal too, since most vampires were either at full moon parties for their monthly holiday of spiting werewolves and the werewolves were all locked away in the dungeons, giving nothing but the echoes of howls if one were to pass by their manors. Humans were also out, mostly at bars and the like, carrying on as normal, because for them the matters of the supernatural set hardly mattered, so long as they weren't a threat.

Karkat had even found it to be far more calming than normal, and was even taking his time for this walk, allowing his thoughts to wander. The last few months had been surprisingly busy, with many things happening all over the place. The police were absolutely baffled, and the hives and packs were unsettled. Roves, those lone vampires, were going missing, and loners were starting to get antsy. For a moment Karkat was a bit worried for Gamzee, mostly because that crazy loner could get himself into trouble, but no. He had his clavigers, so he would be fine. Even with the strange amount of times he'd been called out onto the field, there was always a constant; Terezi was there, and so was that fucking werewolf.

Against his will, his thoughts veered straight into the thought of that stupid fucking werewolf, Dave Strider. He had been accompanying Terezi to _every single_ case that happened to have Karkat involved. Or maybe, as it was probably more viable, most of the cases that the police were sent on incidentally had Karkat at the very center. Either way, there was no disputing that the werewolf was the most infuriating fucking thing. He would ramble, on and on and on about things that were irrelevant, slingshotting all over the place until it took every single ounce of willpower not to scream at him right then and there. Unfortunately, Karkat sometimes failed at this and ended up screaming anyway, only to sometimes see the asshole actually _smile_ at him, actually having the goddamn audacity to be silently laughing at him as he was going practically blue in the face. He hated that stupid look on his face, and it honestly just made him want to hit him. But by then, Karkat couldn't be hitting him, or else Terezi would probably think he was starting to get violent. That was the only reason, and he definitely didn't stop because Dave practically had the look of a kicked puppy (which was pretty ironic, considering what he was) on his face after the last few blows to the head.

And right then, Karkat realized, as his face grew hot in utter disgust and not embarrassment, that he was paying too much attention to Dave. He really needed to not do that, and instead focus on where the hell he was walking, because now looking around, he had to curse himself. While he was lost in his thoughts, he had veered somewhere off course, near some other part of the city. By then he knew his way home, but he would have to navigate this place by the manors first. As if on cue, to remind him of where he was, the faint sound of several howls and animalistic cries of pain pierced through the air, coming from one manor to his right. He had traveled out of the territory of a vampire and into the territory of several packs. Wasn't that just fucking lovely.

Karkat sighed though, because despite the chill that had run down his spine, he knew that the packs took great precautions in making sure that all the werewolves were locked up tight and kept under key until the morning, when it would be time for them to be treating any injuries that might have been caused by silver if any werewolves had been particularly testy that night. As Karkat walked through, he couldn't help the goosebumps that erupted over his skin. The night had suddenly become bitingly cold, and it bit at his cheeks, causing him to shiver. It was quiet, all except for the werewolves.

Then, Karkat couldn't help but notice that one howl was a bit louder than the rest, closer. His heart just about stopped in his chest, and fuck, no fucking way, not now.

There was the sound of steps as something approached, something big and hulking, and Karkat tightened his grip on his cane, standing, for the most part, still. He would have never been able to outrun a regular wolf as is. A werewolf though, in the throes of moon madness? There was no way in hell that he would be able to get away from a beast like that, because on this night, that was unfortunately all that they could be described as. The moon took away all sense of humanity that might have been left by the threads of excess soul keeping them alive, and they could only be thought of as feral wolves. The only one in this goddamn city who wasn't probably cowering inside who could take that excess and return them to a human state was currently just a sitting duck, waiting for the wolf to fucking get there.

Karkat barely had the time to dodge before the behemoth came, jaws opening wide and showing two rows of perfectly sharp teeth as it charged. From the point where Karkat could see, watching it move underneath the light of the electric lamps (a new invention), he could make out a large frame filled with muscle, covered all over in white and silver fur. It turned it's head around to Karkat, showing the most feral red eyes he'd ever seen on any beast, practically glowing in the dark as it charged again, likely trying to aim for Karkat's jugular. The werewolf was fast, and Karkat was a bit slow, meaning that he would barely have the time to miss his arm being taken clean off by the hungry animal, but it suddenly moved back, watching him for a moment and backing away. Karkat thought that maybe, just fucking maybe, the wolf might have recognized him as a human and not food, but it seemed that hope was very short lived. It soon was baring its teeth again, and Karkat had to move fast to either move out of its path or use the momentum to actually get into physical contact.

The latter option was his only choice. He wouldn't have the energy to keep dodging all night.

He could only swallow thickly as the wolf charged again, and this time, Karkat was prepared. He dodged, using his cane to allow him to stand upright as he lunged for the beast's back, wrapping his arms as tightly around its neck and pressing his body against its back, managing to take off one glove and pressing it against the fur there.

What happened next was something that Karkat would, unfortunately, never be forgetting. It was one thing to have to touch a corpse, or to see a werewolf shift forms, but it was another thing entirely to _feel_ that happening. Under his hands he could feel the fur begin to recede, as if repelled by his touch, and then underneath him he could feel those bones crack and move, reshaping the wolf into a man. Thankfully, the wolf had been clothed in the tatters of his evening clothing, so Karkat didn't have to see anything too terribly inappropriate, but he couldn't help but think that this person looked familiar, even with that normally perfectly styled platinum blond hair in perfect disarray...

"... Dave?"

Because there he was, sprawled out underneath Karkat, panting and trying to piece together just what the hell had just happened, eyes staring sightlessly up at the moon.

Karkat then had the absolute worst realization that he was currently hunched on top of Dave Strider, the apparently runaway werewolf Alpha of one of the biggest packs in the region, with his arms around the other's shoulders while straddling his lower back. The second bad realization of this was, he couldn't lose contact with him for even a second, lest he revert back to wolf form and start trying to kill him again.

This was the worst situation Karkat had ever found himself in.

While Dave was recovering, probably disoriented by being changed back so suddenly during the time of month when he was supposed to be a mindless animal, Karkat carefully moved up, keeping one bare hand in the middle of Dave's back and pushing down so that he could get off. It was only then when the Strider moved, making a whine of protest and trying to get that intimately close with Karkat again. Karkat didn't take his hand away from him, but he did help the other sit up. Once it was perfectly clear that Karkat had no intention of breaking physical contact, Dave actually had the power to speak to Karkat, a strange panic in his eyes. It wouldn't be so strange, if the rest of his expression had changed. Instead, his mouth just ticked down the slightest bit. At least now Karkat knew why he wore those stupid shaded spectacles.

"Oh, oh shit man, did I hurt you? Fuck, that wasn't supposed to happen, I thought that when I went beserker I would have been able to hold off until I at least got into the cell, fuck, I don't have any blood on me do I?? Did I kill anyone?"

That panic would be justified, for certain. He likely had no memory of what just happened. Karkat decided, in a small show of generosity, to only smack him lightly in the face with his free hand, not even hard enough to sting. "Jesus fucking Christ Strider, calm down. You don't have any blood on you, and I didn't see any on your muzzle, so I doubt you killed anyone. You nearly killed me, but that's a story for another fucking time." Karkat had to wonder though, why Dave's face blanched when he heard that he'd attacked Karkat. "Now, I'm willing not to tell the authorities about this, since it doesn't seem that you did this shit on purpose. Just tell me what the fuck happened to make it so that you didn't get locked up in time."

The relief that flooded those (actually quite lovely, if Karkat thought about it, which he sure as hell did not) crimson eyes was just about palpable. As Dave gave his explanation, Karkat was absolutely becoming livid. Of course fucking Kankri would think about this stupid convoluted scheme to talk to a werewolf at full moon. Of fucking course. Just as soon as he got home after returning Dave to his pack to wait out the rest of the full moon like every werewolf in the city was doing, he was going to be fucking chewing Kankri out for this. He was going to verbally rip Kankri a new asshole for this stupid fucking stunt. Maybe then Kankri would stop with those bullshit views of his and maybe think about how his actions had actual consequences attached to them.

He didn't notice how Dave nuzzled just the slightest bit into the hand still rested on his cheek, eyes softening just a bit as he gazed at the soulless.

Unfortunately, Dave would be learning the hard way how oblivious Karkat was.


	5. In Which Our Dear Werewolf is Unfortunately Very Flustered and Irritable Over How to Best Romance A Soulless

Dave still remembered how the night he had woken up after that entire incident, he realized he'd somehow fallen in love.

It was sometime in the night after the full moon, where he had been staring up at the ceiling groggily for a bit, the wound that was now healing at the base of his spine throbbing a bit with some pain. He had been trying his damnedest to figure out just what the fuck happened based on context clues and what Karkat had told him, when the little thought of, of all thing, of Karkat looking  _pretty_ popped up, causing him to suddenly sit up and growl at the bit of pain in his lower back. Rose, despite looking like death incarnate after a long night of drinking, had turned her eyes to him and had the fucking nerve to actually smirk at him. He would be teased for weeks afterwards about the near comical expression that had been on his face.

Of course, after his initial thoughts of "what the actual fuck" and ponderings of whether he was secretly just asking to be beaten over the head with that cane, it made some sense. He'd only been seeing Karkat fucking everywhere for the last three months, and had basically been baiting him with the only intention of seeing him get riled up. And he was pretty adorable when he got really riled up- hell, even the cane waving that usually followed suit, with the soulless man's face twisted up in a scowl, was absolutely cute and something that Dave wanted to see much more often. Besides that, as time went on, more and more was coming back to him.

He had been a bit disoriented after being human so suddenly, especially shocked with the fact that for the first time in about sixty years he was staring up at the moon with an actual thought process beyond _eat, run, kill_. Then of course, he'd remembered the feeling of Karkat pressing down on his bare back, and the vague panic that was felt when Karkat was getting off, the small moment of _no no no don't l_ _eave I don't want to go back to that again_. He had panicked then, and fuck, he had felt so vulnerable, so laid bare without his shades there. The rest of his face he could control fine, but he had never been able to figure out the best way to mask any strong emotion in his eyes. He had been panicking, because in that state, at that time, there was no telling just what the hell he had done. Hell, he still couldn't remember the time lost when Karkat's hands were taken off of him, when he had reverted back into that wolf state of mind and started thrashing against his bindings. It was still unnerving, how he never could remember those times.

But of course, he was getting off track. He was almost constantly getting off track with this shit.

He could still remember Karkat's hand on his cheek, and fuck, he had definitely felt the chill in that moment, dressed in tatters and fully human. Th only warmth was that coming from Karkat's body, which had been close so that there could be no break in contact. It had been so embarrassingly intimate, and then there he had been, taking advantage of the moment and just watching Karkat, because without his shades he could really, truly appreciate how good the other had looked.

Regardless of what had happened in that moment though, there was still the small, teensy little problem of the fact that he still liked girls. He liked girls, and from what he remembered of his twenty years of human life he'd never been attracted to any men (unless his age was blurring that little fact, because he was, after all, technically eighty years old, no matter how ruggedly handsome and young he might have looked), and even now he was attracted to a few girls. Of course, it just wasn't that... often, and his last crush was maybe some fifty years ago, but still. He may not have been interested in some airheaded chit straight from the schoolroom, but he still liked women.

And now look at him, the Alpha werewolf, having a sexuality crisis despite being nearly a century old.

His gamma had certainly helped with that, eventually helping him come to terms with it. He even had a name for it, a very uncommon phrase for the era. Bisexual. Then Dirk had to ruin the heartfelt coming-of-age moment that the young werewolf was having, saying, "I bet that little soulless of yours is no stranger to it. Haven't you heard of his father's reputation? Quite... promiscuous, before settling down with his Disciple."

Dave had expected as much, mostly because Silas Vantas had apparently embodied many Italian stereotypes, such as the sexual appetite and religious missions he would go on. Either that, or those had simply been rumors started by the vampires, who still for the most part hated and saw those without souls with disdain. Vampires tended to last much longer than werewolves (who tended to off each other after a few centuries), and therefore had very long memories. That also meant that they were liable to hold more grudges than any other, even against people who couldn't possibly have been alive during those times.

 Vampires. Can't fucking reason with those assholes. But regardless of what those assholes might have thought, whoever Silas Vantas was surely wouldn't have any bearing on Karkat's life. He may have looked like the man, but in the end not many actually knew what he was, mostly because he was damn good at covering his tracks and staying out of the public eye while Kankri positively fucking drowned in it. In fact, beyond the little two name list that had been given to him to identify Karkat, there was virtually nothing on him. No gossip columns (except for one lamenting the fact that apparently his nose and strong features made him look off putting, to which Dave wondered just how tasteless someone could be), no police records, nothing. The most he had was the information Terezi gave him, and even that was sparse. Well fuck Dave, remembering his initial attempts at trying to figure the soulless out in that first month of knowing him just reminded him to add 'exceedingly clever' to the ever growing list of things that he was loving about Karkat.

There was just one problem with him liking Karkat. That problem would be the fact that Dave had just tried to fucking kill him.

Granted, Dave hadn't been in his right mind, but still the point stood. In his moon mad frenzy he had tried to aim for the jugular so that he could prey on Karkat, and that just wasn't going to fly. The first time that Dave saw him after that incident was at another ball, and it was during that time that he completely avoided him, much to the chargin of both his second and third in command. There are several more times throughout the next two weeks, times when there are skirmishes between races and the occasional rove gone insane.

It had gotten to the point where even Rose had stepped in, cornering him before he could move very far down the corridor that led to the stairs to his bedroom to hole up after a particularly testy day of pack business. She blocked his way, crossing her arms over her chest and looking up at Dave, glaring as she said, "For the love of God, get over yourself and just fucking talk to him." He was going to ask who, who this mysterious person was so that he could maybe stall the inevitable, but it seemed that today she was having none of that. "No, you know exactly who. In all of my years as your Beta, this has got to be the most frustrating thing that you've put the pack through."

"Excuse me, Lalonde? The pack? What the hell does my little romantic preference have to do with any of them?" He honestly ought to be angry, but at the moment all he could muster up was some mild offense to what she had said. He might have been a bit more prone to being in his room and writing shit down than normal, but that sure as hell didn't have to do with the pack. 

Rose practically growled, teeth even baring at him, and she must have truly been feeling angry about this. "The pups are confused and more agitated than ever. You have been lashing out at pack mates, not to mention that little stint with your apparent sexuality crisis. I would have expected you to realize your preference by now, but that's truly not the point. Everyone here, and I mean everyone, can feel it. They know your feelings for the curse-breaker. It's so obvious."

Dave honestly can't muster up a good response to that, other than a weak little, "He's called a preternatural."

"Would you look at that. Literally no one calls them that, and here you're being polite when not in his company. Next you know, the gossip papers will be all over this little scandal- how perfectly forbidden and sensational, for the wealthy and powerful Alpha of the biggest pack in this region to be secretly courting the younger brother of Kankri Vantas. I don't doubt that the older one would have a field day with that information. Look, you just need to actually try and pursue him."

And it was then when Dave sort of snapped. It could have been the fact that he was as tired as fucking sin or the fact that he wanted to legitimately, subconsciously want this off of his chest, but he spoke anyway. "Okay Rose, but it isn't that fucking easy. I'm nearly a century old, and fucking hell, I may not look it but the difference is there. He's fucking seen me transform, and do you have any idea how messy that shit is? Oh wait, yes you do, because we've only been doing it forever. I tried to kill him a few weeks ago, and even if the full moon was up I should have fucking done something to get inside of my cell faster. Hell, he's always looking like he wants to beat me over the head with his cane, and why the hell shouldn't he? Where the hell would I even start with this thing?"

After that angry flow of word vomit, Rose did soften up a bit, moving and laying a hand on his arm. It was unconscious, but Dave did relax the slightest bit. That was the job of the beta, after all, to calm the Alpha and keep them from killing anyone. "The first thing you can do is talk to him. That's first and foremost. As for the rest-" 

She was interrupted when a claviger came, looking hesitant upon seeing them. Then, the lad spoke up, causing Dave's head to snap to him. "Sir, I have a message from Latula Pyrope- she says that since Terezi seems to be sick, she needs you to go on the behalf of the police to see to a situation happening at the Maryam ball this evening." 

Rose paled, but Dave didn't notice, instead saying, "Alright. What's the situation? Do you know?"

The claviger seemed hesitant before saying, "Sir, the Queen of the hive, Kanaya Maryam, has been poisoned with dead man's blood. She is recovering, but there is another matter as well... Er..." Dave could only glance back as Rose seemed to hurry off, calling for a claviger to fetch her cloak as it would be much faster to get to the party in wolf form. 

Then Dave's eyes widened as the boy continued, pausing ever so slightly. "There also appears to be an unknown dead vampire there. Most of the guests have been evacuated, but well... You may not like hearing this but..."

"For the love of god man, out with it."

"Karkat Vantas is the main suspect."


	6. In Which We Finally Shed Some Light on One of Our Heroines

If there was one thing that Rose Lalonde valued, amongst other things, was the ability to remain calm in situations where it was pertinent to do so. She had to employ such skills countless times before, as was necessary when dealing with what was sure to be the most childish pack leader in the history of the Strider pack. Now, don't get her wrong- Dave was a lovely leader and, for the most part, fair and just in his judgement. He just had a tendency to ramble on and on nonsensically for hours on end and find himself in long sulks when something especially emotionally taxing was happening and he refused to acknowledge the issue's existence. After twenty years of dealing with the Alpha, especially after the near tyrannical reign of the first pack Alpha known simply as Bro, Rose had developed quite a bit of patience and a way to mask her most trying emotions and annoyance behind silver tongued sarcasm and small mind tricks to see the reactions that were given.

The farthest thing on her mind that night was staying calm, even if some part of her encouraged her to slow down for a moment, don't try to rush like she was doing. That was ignored, because for once concern and anger outweighed the need to be calm. After all, what person wasn't immediately worried when they found out that the love of their life had just been poisoned? Not only that, but it seemed that this was a carefully planned out assassination attempt- it wasn't so easy to procure what vampires considered 'dead man's blood', or rather, blood that was at least a year old and laced with belladonna and angel's trumpet. The fact that Kanaya was even in recovery at all was a miracle in and of itself, though all things considering, if Rose's hunch was correct, a certain curse-breaker had to do with it. At least Dave would be able to talk to him.

This thought was thrown away as Rose called out for a claviger, ordering, "Grab me one of my evening dresses and my cloak. We don't have all night, so I expect that you stop sitting on your haunches and get a move on!" The young woman nodded and scurried away. Had Rose not been so concerned (yes, concerned, because this foot tapping, antsy feeling crawling under her skin was not _panic_ ), she might have been amused at the lass's startling and quick movements, but at that moment, her only real concern was stripping down. Soon enough, she was back with both her evening dress (one without a corset, how very scandalous, but fashion was the least of her worries), which she tied around her waist. The cloak was set on the ground, and soon enough Rose was changing forms. Her bones still creaked a bit, especially from the last full moon when she had apparently done a number on herself by trying to break down the steel bars with her body, and it was mildly uncomfortable, but after a long while shifting forms became second nature to someone. She picked the cloak up gingerly between her teeth and was soon rushing away, moving through the throngs of servants and clavigers that went about their duties.

It might have looked strange to someone, for a sandy colored she wolf to be running through the city proper with a cloak between her teeth and a dark violet dress wrapped around her stocky form, but that was what one might see should they happen to be walking on the path from the Strider pack's mansion to the Maryam hive. The place was quite a ways away, mostly because the nature of their species meant that both vampires and werewolves were exceedingly territorial, but she knew her way there. It was a path that she had run down many times before then.

The Maryam hive in itself was a large structure, built with many windows to allow light in, which was morbidly ironic considering the nature of vampires in general. Then again, Kanaya was rather eccentric, and it was easy enough to procure curtains that would keep the rooms of the vampires hidden from view and hidden from the sunlight. Unfortunately, this meant that Rose had to change back outside and hide to wrap her cloak around herself. She was soon turning back into her human form, fur disappearing and bones shifting so that she could regain her previous form. With that, she tied the cloak around her neck, pulling up the hood and frowning a bit. She would have to fight her way through vampires and, in the end, be able to gain access to their hive queen. Kanaya was still probably laying down and recovering, meaning that her drones and vampires would be antsy, would be waiting to lash out at anyone who got too close.

Her room would be one of the higher floors, and unless she wanted to deal with her overprotective hive, it looked like Rose would have to take a more inventive route to reach Kanaya. Rose sighed, because though her enhanced physical strength was indeed enough for her to scale the stone and navigate the windowsills, that didn't mean that she was too fond of it. Climbing was annoying, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She reared back to look at the wall in front of her, looking for the best route, before moving quickly to catch onto a few stones jutting out. She dug her claws into the stonework as she got her bearings, moving her bare feet up to press against the wall. She moved up the wall in this manner, her teeth grinding together as she scaled it. It took a while, but soon enough she was reaching for the last windowsill, the one that led up to a balcony. It was a bit of a jump, but she was able to catch the floor of the balcony, heaving herself up and over the railing. Now all there was to do was enter through the doors, and there she would be able to see Kanaya. There was a knot in the pit of her stomach, and she took a small breath, wrapping the cloak more securely around her naked form before opening the door and entering the room.

When she saw Kanaya on the bed, awake and for the most part seeming healthy, she relaxed. Rose pushed away the earlier panic, because it was surely fine, it was okay now that she was seeing her love recovering. Kanaya looked over to her, mouth opening in a little o of surprise. Though she certainly didn't look in danger of death anymore, she definitely looked rather ill. She was pale before, but the normally lovely porcelain was reduced to a pasty white pallor. Her jade eyes were tired, sunken in, and even in the time of the hours it must have been since the initial poisoning, she seemed to be hunched in on herself. Rose winced when she saw that, saw the clear evidence of her pain.

"Rose, what are you doing here? I didn't expect for you to know for-" Before she could finish that, Rose had moved over to the bed and pressed her lips to hers.

For a moment they stayed there, simply pressing their lips together, before Rose finally pulled away. Thank God there seemed to be some deity that made sure that Kanaya was safe and sound after such an ordeal. "A Pyrope informed Dave that he would be taking this case on the police's behalf because Terezi seems to be sick. I was there when they were relaying the news that you'd been poisoned, and I couldn't help but come. Besides, I have a feeling that I'm going to have to go downstairs and see it for myself."

"Oh. The crime scene." She winced a bit, trying to sit up straighter though it seemed to bother her. "Really, it was a matter of self defense. Karkat was able to get in contact with me and keep the tainted blood from getting too far through my body, and- and he had me vomit most of it up but there's still a trace that hasn't gone-"

Rose shushed her quietly, trying to nudge her back down. "That trace won't be enough to kill you, surely. For right now though, you need rest, and to not strain or stress yourself out. I can see what all the fuss is about once I get dressed and make sure you're taken care of." After all, Rose was stark naked underneath her cloak, with nothing but that evening dress tied around her waist and protecting her most intimate bits from view. Surely, she would have looked completely silly coming into the room, a werewolf having strode in so scantily clad. Unfortunately, such nudity was unavoidable, not when changing forms often ripped perfectly good clothes that she needed to keep mostly pristine. It was why she had so few dresses that didn't stretch in some way, or make accommodations for her form.

She moved to change behind the screen in the room, willfully ignoring the disappointed look and pout that Kanaya gave her as she went to go about the task of dressing herself. Rose simply rolled her eyes, strolling back out into view in the floor length gown and wrapping the cloak around herself regardless to retain at least some modesty while in it. Rose moved to Kanaya's bedside, chuckling at her protests, "Rose, there's no need to play nurse. I have several dozen vampires outside who are more than willing to do that, and all while waiting on me in any way besides."

"Oh, don't be such a child, Kanaya." Rose teasingly chided, moving Kanaya to lay down on the bed, "I thought that my dearest hive queen of a mate was more mature than that, but it seems the venom might have effected your brain." Even though she protested, Kanaya did nothing to stop her, laying back on the bed and curling under the sheets, shivering. It must have been some side effect of the poison in her system still, and Rose wasn't happy to see that, though she was monetarily distracted when Kanaya wiggled out of the covers a bit to wrap her arms around the other's waist. Rose smiled a bit, though she had to growl playfully when Kanay stuck a hand up and accusingly pointed it in Rose's face.

"Is that a hint of sarcasm I detect? I would expect you to treat me with a bit more respect, miss Lalonde."

"Well Queen Maryam, I'm a werewolf. You know for a fact those of my race have no sense of manners or respect." She showed teeth, nipping at her finger playfully with no intention to bite or injure. "Just you be careful, or I might take a finger off. It's been a while since we've been able to get fresh meat back at the manor, and my Alpha is both a firm dictator and gentle giant when it comes to those creatures. Deer are no problem, but god forbid if I want to taste one of his crows. He throws a major temper tantrum nearly rivaling Karkat's in intensity, and that, my dearest love, is saying something."

Kanaya's eyebrows raised at the revelation, and she glanced up at Rose in curiosity. "Is that true? How peculiar. The big, tough, masculine werewolf having such a soft heart for such birds. The animals seem to be constantly stealing my fabrics. I was trying to make a scarf the other day, for instance, with a shiny sort of silk that was made to look like gold and who swoops in but a crow to take the half finished article away."

"Gold, you say?" It was Rose's turn to be amused, and she smiled a bit at that, "Isn't that odd. Dave was messing with a piece of fabric a few weeks ago, while he was still sulking over the full moon incident that happened with Karkat, and muttering to himself. Then again, he very well could have been talking with his crows."

"Well, I'll be damned." Kanaya had to smile, lips tilting upwards as she curled closer to Rose, "It seems those little pests have been taking my things to give over to your pack leader. Perhaps they feel indebted to him for making sure none of you ever try to eat them?" That was certainly a theory, and Rose had to reach a hand up and cover her mouth to stifle a little smirk at the idea of it. How quaint; his love of animals could prove very useful in getting things that would eventually find their way to Karkat in the form of gifts. Kanaya yawned, rubbing an eye and shaking her head violently, and Rose knew then that she was likely very exhausted and her body was probably in need of some much needed sleep so that the blood could pass through her system.

"Kanaya, I do believe that it's time for you to sleep." That was met by protests, mostly because it wasn't often that they were able to speak like this, having to constantly act as if they were willing to rip the other's throat out while in public and having to share quick kisses from behind closed doors. Rose knew Dave's opinion on vampires, and most of this hive shared disdainful views about werewolves, so this certainly wasn't something that they could just gloss over. But Kanaya was still weakened, and Rose had to go downstairs and provide back up for Dave, who was now speaking to the only person in this hive that didn't hate werewolves on principle, and that one person just happened to be both his crush and the perceived murderer of a vampire in this establishment. He would need some support for it.

She looked down, and Kanaya seemed to already be nodding off, despite the fact that she was trying her best to remain awake. Rose's hand found itself in the vampire's soft black curls, and she stroked the woman's hair for a bit, humming under her breath and watching with a sense of accomplishment as eventually, Kanaya slowly gave up and succumbed to the sleep that her body so desperately needed. For a while after, Rose stayed, making sure she was breathing correctly and that she wasn't about to vomit. But Dave was still downstairs, and she had to see what had happened, and who Karkat had killed.

Rose gently took Kanaya's arms from herself and slipped away, moving to jump down from the balcony and make her way in through the front.


	7. In Which Some Light is Shed on the Murder and Assassination Attempt, and Dave Finally Kisses his Soulless Crush

Well, wasn't this night just turning out to be a barrel of fucking laughs.

Here Karkat currently was, having pretended to have fainted like some silly maiden in the more far fetched of his romantic novels, his cane rolled off somewhere with the pointed wooden end covered in black blood and the removable silver tip in his pocket. The fainting, of course, was all for show, and the vampires of that hive, no matter how much they might have been uncomfortable with his presence, were well aware that the only reason Kanaya was alive at that moment was his soulless touch. They cleared the area, and Karkat had a bit to think over what had just occurred and how he would explain it to the officer who would most likely be coming, since Terezi had taken ill the last he saw of her. He was well and truly fucked.

It had been a normal ball at the hive that evening. He'd gone at Kanaya's insistence, to get away from Kankri and his increasingly unruly band of guests who were coming. It seemed that Kankri was spreading rumors now, that some nameless werewolf accosted him in the street and claimed that he was going to kill that full moon, but it then never happened. Despite there being no evidence for this claim, the aminaphobics were beginning to grow restless, a few of them even beginning to plan meetings and whisper about scientists. Karkat had begun to look into it, despite his brother's insistence that nothing was going on, and Kanaya had sent for him so that he could take a break from it. Despite being engrossed in this new project and perhaps beginning to say no to the basic need of sleep (like he got much of it in the first place), Karkat did know that when Kanaya insisted he do something, then he ought to do it so as to not incur her or Rose's wrath.

The story of how he had stumbled upon them both in a _compromising_ position behind the small atrium of the hive was best suited for another time.

For now, he instead focused on what had occurred. 

He and Kanaya had gone off to the library, when one vampire came and offered her a drink. It seemed innocent enough, just a little delicate china cup with a bit of tea. Kanaya had drank from it, figuring it just to be a polite gift, when she doubled over and made a low sound, arms wrapping around her stomach. The bloke tried to go after Karkat then, his fangs bared, but seemed to not take into account the most important detail of his; he'd not seemed to realize that he hadn't a soul to be found, and no sooner had those fangs hit his neck and turned into blunter teeth, Karkat had his cane ready to jab the assassin hard in the stomach, sending him backwards. Next, of course, came the struggle, where the confused vampire attempted to get his hands around Karkat's neck. After a moment more of fending the creature off, Karkat had taken the silver tip from his cane, leaving a wooden stake. The vampire didn't even have the time to be surprised before the stake had entered his heart.

The pale skin turned a ghastly yellow, mottling in the most hideous way as the vampire gave a gargle, and then fell to the ground, seeming to deflate completely.

He had had to act fast so that Kanaya wouldn't fall victim to the same gruesome death. Karkat had turned then, quickly reaching a gloveless hand to wrap around her wrist. She didn't collapse, and she didn't die, breathing hard as her own fangs disappeared. As the hive queen was coughing and sputtering from that bit of dead man's blood, now far too human for it to have much an effect beyond making her a tad nauseous, he'd ordered one of her drones to grab a tonic to make her vomit and a bucket. The drone was off, and soon was back just as fast, since she and the rest of her hive were now worried about the woman currently human but breathing and still alive. After Kanaya had swallowed the foul tasting tonic, she'd thrown up the contents of her stomach, scarce as they were, putting all that sick and poison onto the bucket to be carried away. Just as other guests were beginning to get curious, she had gotten most of it from her system, and those of her hive were carrying her away. Then, some of the vampires from another hive (Peixes maybe, if he remembered correctly) had pushed in and seen his cane on the ground next to the vampire.

That's about when Karkat pretended to go into shock, and then a dead faint. While embarrassing as hell, it was surely better than being taken away and immediately accused of the murder, right? Of course, then the vampires were thinking that he killed the dead one out of spite, and Karkat knew that he was in deep shit even as the Maryams cleared the room and tried to get him to "wake up". 

Soon though, there were footsteps, and a bark of an order for them all to clear the area to leave himself and Karkat alone for an interrogation. Karkat's blood just about ran cold when he realized just who that damn voice belonged to. 

It belonged to the asshole who, for several weeks now, wouldn't leave his mind.

Dave Strider was definitely an odd character. After seeing him practically naked, straddling him and basically keeping in direct physical contact after being attacked, it seemed that the werewolf wanted nothing to do with him. He never seemed to talk to him much whenever he just so happened to be on a case that had Karkat there (which happened way more fucking often than he'd like to admit), completely avoided him at balls, and generally seemed much more pouty and annoyed than normal, which was an understatement considering their very first meeting featured him being generally pouty and annoyed despite just trying to steal his goddamn apple tart. Now he was here, and apparently, life wanted to fuck Karkat over twenty ways that particular day. Fate may as well just shove twenty blades up his ass and get it over with.

"Vantas, come on, I know you're no pansy who faints at a little corpse. Get up here so we can talk about  _why_ that corpse is there."

He guessed that there was no fooling the werewolf, who had seen him touch dead bodies and bloody bastards with only a small wince. Karkat opened his eyes, sitting up and looking at the pack alpha, whose face seemed to simply irritate Karkat. The fucker doesn't talk to him for weeks on end and now he comes and takes the police's case just because Karkat will be there? Though Karkat knows he has no reason to feel the way he does, he does anyway, because emotions are fucking assholes like that and cause trouble whether someone wanted them to or not. He glared at the werewolf, clenching his fist despite there being no cane there to latch onto, and saying, "Well look who decided to show up. What, got so tired of staring at a wall that you actually came out and came to see what I was up to. Well, isn't this peachy. Look, let's just get this over with so that we can continue on with our lives."

Dave seemed taken aback by Karkat's biting remark, looking at Karkat like he'd only just seen him in passing before and only just then realized what he was like. Karkat had no fucking clue what that look was for; after all, they had just been seeing each other for more than a few months now. But soon Dave had schooled his face into that stupid emotionless mask he seemed so fond of, and asked, "Well, what happened here? Did you kill this guy or what?"

"I did." There was no use in denying the fact, and he crossed his arms over his chest. "But it was a self defense thing; this asshole here was the one who tried to assassinate Kanaya, and myself might I add, so I just dealt with the fucking threat so I could get to her in time to make sure she didn't die on us."

Dave seemed about to speak, when Rose entered the room, in what was most certainly considered scandalous dress. A simple gown would be regarded by anyone who gave a shit about that kind of stuff as the stuff that was worn to bed to please a lover, but really, Karkat couldn't care less. He was just annoyed that she had so easily gotten between the two of them and was looking between them before saying, "Right well, off you go. They won't charge you on account of self defense, and since your heroic actions tonight have saved Kanaya Maryam, more likely than not you'll be hailed as a hero. Do be safe when confronting your brother. I give my blessing to you both, good night, and from the bottom of my heart allow me to just say, get the hell out of here and work out whatever the fuck is going on in between you."

As both were promptly shooed away from the room, Karkat figured that he should have expected this. Rose was probably completely distraught, after hearing of her lover (hate lover? he thought that was only between werewolves from rival packs) had just been poisoned and would likely not be recovered completely for a long while. It could take as little as a fortnight, and as long as months. Not exactly the best fucking way to go. 

Now though, the two of them were outside in the hallway, which seemed empty despite everything. More likely than not the Maryams were getting bystanders to go home, and trying to keep a few downstairs for the officers to come and arrest if they happened to be part of whatever hive the dead vampire currently on Kanaya's library floor were from. For now though, it seemed that Dave had something else on his mind. For a moment, the two stood there in complete silence, the soulless quietly awkward while the werewolf was thoughtful. Then, his hand reached up and pushed those shaded spectacles to the top of his head, letting Karkat see as Dave locked his gaze onto him. For a moment, they stood there, with Dave's intense gaze, glowing in the low lamplight of the hallway making the soulless squirm a bit. Then, he was moving backwards as Dave came upon him, back hitting the wall as Dave's hands were on either side of his head.

The silence was unnerving for Karkat, who often had very much to say and recognized this scene from every single romance novel he'd read from his childhood and adolescence. After all, after being very kindly informed that he had no soul, he had figured that he might not have had any morals or would know much about love, so he had figured that he ought to get some morals and learn about some romance while he was at it. This was the scene where the one keeping the other in place against the wall confessed, giving a little growl to stay put. But there was none of that. Instead, Dave just slowly leaned in, and Karkat knew exactly where this was going, and he still had so many unanswered questions. So before Dave could kiss him, Karkat stopped him.

This was accomplished by punching the werewolf in the face.

Dave gave a yelp of pain as Karkat's fist suddenly put an end to that little romantic moment, and he glared down at Karkat for a moment, seeming like all the world to be a wounded puppy who'd just been kicked. Which, really, wasn't that far from the truth, if Karkat thought about it. After all, Karkat had just done what was about the most unromantic thing someone could do. But Karkat wasn't about to let a little thing like that stand between himself and his wrath. He spoke, spitting out the words angrily as his hands balled up into fists. "Okay, what the actual  **fuck** Strider? You don't acknowledge me for weeks after I saved your ass from doing something monstrous that could very well have given my brother's little group the fuel they need to run you lot out of the city proper, you avoid me at balls and pretend I don't exist, and then you come here, and have the audacity to actually try and fucking  _kiss me_?"

"Well sorry, but there was just that little fact of I  **attacked** you on the full moon." He growled, eyes flashing a bit in restrained anger. "I literally tried to go for your neck, Karkat, and tried to kill you. So it seemed like shitty fucking timing for me to just go and confess right after that!"

"And it's any better that you confess at a ruined ball where I just _killed_ a man?!"

"Not a man, a fucking vampire. I can understand stabbing it through the heart. Look, will you just let me do this right, for once? Like, just once, so that I can try to maybe go after someone that makes me happy?"

Karkat was taken aback by that, surprised that he was considered someone who made the werewolf happy, but there was no way in hell that he was just about to let this go. "You can't try and court me, Dave. It would never fucking work out!"

"Oh, really now." Dave stared at him, putting one hand on his hip and just staring at him in disbelief. "Alright, tell me, why exactly I can't pursue you as a mate. Go ahead, I'm all ears."

"I don't have a soul."

"Werewolves used to sometimes be the pets of soulless people. I mean, that wouldn't happen now, but the point still stands."

"I'm not a pleasant person to be around!" 

"You're a pocket of sunshine, trust me, and you're way more interesting than a lot of people."

"I'm an Italian!"

"And I'm an American. London's just going to have to fucking deal with us."

Karkat was running out of arguments, and Dave could see it. None of his arguments were something that held much water, like the fact that Dave was much older than he was or the fact that he didn't love him. Karkat might have been able to, at one point, say that, but right then he wasn't so sure. Dave was doing weird as hell things to him, and honestly, he was getting frustrated as hell. He couldn't even find it in himself to push Dave away when the werewolf had taken up his hand, forcing him to look up into the eyes that were dully from that striking red color to something else, something more of a molten copper color. 

When Dave leaned down to kiss Karkat, this time the soulless actually let him.

Karkat expected something to happen, some sort of fireworks display to set off inside that hole where a soul would usually be held, or maybe some warmth in his chest, but there was absolutely nothing more than the feather light softness of the currently human's lips, as if Dave were afraid that Karkat would shatter away into millions of little pieces and suddenly be blown away from him. While the gentleness was nice and inviting, and rather sweet, it was overly so. Now Karkat usually had a sweet tooth, but this kiss was barely a kiss, and he was in the mood for something a bit more spicy. That was how they eventually moved into the position where Dave was the one thrown against the wall, Karkat smashing their lips together. 

It didn't go much further since Rose soon came out with paperwork for her alpha, but there were definite sparks, and Karkat was certainly smug about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally, it just took seven chapters and punch in the face for it to happen!


End file.
